Watkins Glen, NY – Daniel Burkett, the young Canadian K-Hill Motorsports driver, claimed his fourth straight Atlantic Championship Series win on Sunday at Watkins Glen. He was able to keep his perfect finish record, but was not able to grab a fourth straight pole position, starting second behind Comprent Motor Sports’ Jimmy Simpson.

Due to some mechanical issues, 20 of the 22 Atlantic cars at The Glen took the Green Flag for Sunday’s race. The morning qualifying session was truncated due to a blown engine that dumped oil on the track. Simpson and Burkett swapped the pole position and the track record multiple times during the qualifying session. Simpson ended up setting a new qualifying track record by laying down a 1:40.866.

This weekend was Burkett’s first time at Watkins Glen International. “Coming in here I knew it would be more difficult than Road Atlanta, we would have to be on our game. We knew Jimmy would be fast here with his past experience”, explained Burkett.

Burkett started the race next to Simpson and said he “was okay with starting second, not every weekend will be perfect”. However, with his strong finish, it turned out to be a near perfect weekend for Burkett and his K-Hill team.

Simpson was able to hold the lead for a few corners, but was overtaken by Burkett on the inner loop of the track. Simpson held tight onto his draft behind the three-time race winner, attempting to prevent him from getting a run on the field. Simpson ended the race taking the second step on the podium and claiming another race track record, setting a race record of 1:40.634.

“We went about the setup differently here, looking for straight speed instead of corner speed, it was a little bit hairy to hang the thing out. I was more than content to get second instead of stuffing it into a wall trying to get first”, said Simpson, after thanking his team and the hard work they put in replacing his motor.

Ethan Ringel, driver for COMPREP, had another podium finish this weekend, this time taking third. There was a full course caution during the race that allowed Ringel to get close to Polestar’s Keith Grant, whom he had fallen behind in the opening laps of the race. Ringel said that the “restart kept me on my toes with Grant”.

Grant ended up having an issue towards the end of the race and dropped back into the field finishing ninth overall.

K-Hill Motorsports’ father-son duo, rounded out the top five of the fourth race of a ten race season for the Atlantic Championship Series. Gaston, finished in front of his son Conner, who had used the restart to catch up to his father after starting ninth.

Sedat Yelkin, who made his first appearance with the Atlantic Championship Series at Watkins Glen, finished sixth, followed by Tyler Hunter, Richard Zober, Keith Grant, and Bruce Hamilton.

The Atlantic Championship Series continues June 6-8 at Virginia International Raceway for rounds five and six of the ten, five-weekend race season. For results, standings, and further information on the Atlantic Championship Series visit www.AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com.

Race Results: